


Untitled Old Kingdom fic

by SkySkySkylar



Category: Old Kingdom - Garth Nix
Genre: Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-11-01
Updated: 2014-11-03
Packaged: 2018-02-23 13:40:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 7,468
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2549570
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SkySkySkylar/pseuds/SkySkySkylar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A year after Orannis, trouble threatens the Old Kingdom yet again. Lirael and Sabriel deal with it, and learn more about each other. (Written for NaNoWriMo, and updated as I go, so it will not be edited until after November – I make no promises about writing quality or pacing.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Ride Home

**Author's Note:**

> Any feedback would be great. Although I'm posting this in first draft version as I write it, I'll edit it later and feedback will be helpful there.
> 
> Enjoy!

“Are we stopping for the night anytime soon?” Sam called to his father from where he was riding with Lirael. Touchstone looked back from his position in front of the two of them. “When we find a suitable spot,” he answered.

Lirael frowned. They were in a forest, and so dark was coming quickly. “Before it gets dark, please,” she called. A chorus of agreement came from their guards.

Touchstone grinned. “I’ll bow to your pleas,” he promised everyone. Lirael smiled. Touchstone was eager to get back to Belisaere after a month on the road, checking up on the Red Lake region and accompanying Sam on a visit to study The Wall, and was pushing their group to go as far as possible each day, but he knew as well as everyone else that to ride during the night would be foolish for more than one reason. For her part, Lirael had enjoyed the trip, and the freedom it allowed her to test her abilities a year after finding out her true heritage, but was growing frustrated with the sense that she wasn’t really doing anything. There was very little danger that the guards – even just the ten that were with them – could not take care of by themselves. The sooner they got back to Belisaere, where she could continue studying with her sister Sabriel, the happier she would be.

Her thoughts were interrupted as Patar, the guard who had been scouting up ahead came riding back to the group. “We’re coming up on a river, and there’s an island near the bridge. Large enough for all of us to fit, but small enough and far enough from the bridge to be easily defendable.”

The head guard, Aline, nodded and looked at Touchstone. He nodded back, and the group rode on.

The island was completely surrounded by water, with a bridge of logs that could be dismantled and put back together from the island. There was a fire pit well laid out already – it was obviously a favored spot of travelers. Part of the stream was shallow enough that the horses could walk through it easily, but it was still deep and swift enough to protect against most of the Dead. It was large enough for all thirteen of them and the seventeen horses to fit, maybe not comfortably, but relatively easily.

“There’s not much wood around,” commented Aline as she looked over the island. “I want a group to get wood, and a group to hunt!”

“That’s near all of us,” said one of the guards. Aline grimaced.

Touchstone looked at Aline. “We can manage on our own for a few minutes,” he told her. There’s running water, and we’re all Charter mages. Not to mention we’ve got the Abhorsen-in-Waiting with us.”

Aline looked at him. “This is true,” she said slowly, “but it is still my duty to protect you.” She looked up at the sky and sighed. The sun had set, and light was quickly leaving. “Pull the bridge up when we leave,” she told Touchstone. “You’ll have to put it down again when we come back, but I don’t want anything crossing on it that shouldn’t, or your wife might never forgive me.”

Touchstone smiled. Sam nodded at Aline. “We don’t mind,” he told her.

The guards quickly gathered what they needed to hunt, and left. Sam and Touchstone pulled the bridge up behind the last guard as Lirael started to unpack some of the food supplies that they could have with the meat the guards brought back. Sam and Touchstone came to help, unpacking tents and bedrolls. Lirael felt a familiar press on her heart and gasped, at the same time as Sam did. They met each other’s eyes, horrified – someone – multiples someones – had just died.


	2. A Fight

Touchstone turned as Sam and Lirael gasped. Somewhere in the woods, he heard a yell. “What’s happening?” he asked sharply. Lirael jumped up, trying to get her thoughts together, and felt for the bells across her chest. Sam turned to his father. How many had died so far? At least five... “Our guards are dying,” he said, for it could only be the guards, there was no one else in the area... he had felt more die as he spoke, two more, and then two more again, was that everyone? There was no time to think about that, they needed todo something. But before he could think of anything, he and Lirael felt the dead guards being raised as Dead Hands, and winced in unison.

“They’re being raised as Hands,” said Lirael grimly. “There’s a necromancer around.”

“Do something!” Sam yelled at her. More were being raised as they spoke.

Lirael grabbed Saraneth, the binder, out of her bandolier. Focusing her will on the Hands that she felt, she rang Saraneth and willed the Hands to stop moving. But if there was a necromancer, and they were raising Dead Hands, they must be in Death... “I need to go into Death,” Lirael said. “But we don’t have a Diamond of protection – “

“Just go,” Touchstone told her. “We’ll make a Diamond around you.” Lirael nodded, stepped her feet apart, and drew her sword.

“Hurry,” whispered Sam, because he felt another few Hands being raised. Then frost started to form on Lirael’s face and hair, and she was in Death.

“Hurry,” Touchstone told Sam, moving to make the first point of the Diamond. Sam moved quickly to the second point, keeping the three of them inside of it. Drawing his sword, he let the Charter symbol flow out of it and into the ground. Touchstone did the third point, and Sam completed the Diamond, adding a little extra power to it. Then he groaned.

“There are more Hands then there were guards, I think,” he told his father. “There must have been bodies here before we got here.”

Touchstone grimaced. “It seems we walked into some sort of trap,” he said. “Let’s hope it doesn’t work as well as it was intended.” Then his eyes went wide, just for a moment. “And let’s hope there aren’t any of those bodies within our Diamond,” he said.

Sam flinched and scanned the ground. “Let’s hope,” he agreed.

****

Lirael stepped into Death. The river tugged at her ankles, but she ignored it, looking around for the necromancer. They were a few steps into Death, with their back towards her. They wore a standard traveler’s cloak, with the hood up. Lirael held up her sword and Saraneth, and took a step towards them. They heard her and turned. Seeing their face – long nose, close spaced eyes, thin lips – did not help Lirael recognize them, from either her own experience or Sabriel’s descriptions. While she processed this information, the necromancer spoke.

“And who are you? I hope you realize you are interrupting my work.” Their voice was oily, and rather condescending. Lirael realized that she was not wearing her surcoat – so the necromancer probably doesn’t recognize me! she thought. Good, as long as her opponent thought that she would be easy to overpower, she had the upper hand. About to send them further into Death, and ideally past the Ninth Gate, she realized that she ought to figure out why her party had been attacked. Cocking her head, she rang Saraneth. It did not take much work to get the necromancer to submit to her will, and her confidence increased. Replacing Saraneth into her bandolier, she drew Dyrim. Dyrim was a tricky bell, prone to backfiring, so she held it carefully. As she rang it, she felt the necromancer begin to fight against her binding.

It seemed the necromancer might have been more powerful than she first thought. The fight against her will made her lose focus on Dyrim, so she quickly stilled it before it could ring out of control. But the binding she had done with Saraneth was too far gone by this point – trying again with Dyrim was too risky. Even after a second use of Saraneth, thought Lirael, Dyrim might still be too risky, if the necromancer had managed to get free already. Better to get rid of them quickly.

Replacing Dyrim, she drew Saraneth and renewed her binding. It was harder this time – had the necromancer purposely not put up a fight the first time? Not wanting to put her sword away, she replaced Saraneth again and quickly drew Kibeth. Before the necromancer had the chance to put up a fight, she rang the walker, and willed them further into Death. While before, when she believed them to be weak, she had thought that she might have a chance at sending them past the Ninth Gate, now she was fairly certain it would not happen. She would be very lucky to get them past the Eighth Gate. She should follow the necromancer, and keeping renewing the command to travel farther into Death, but there was no time. Anything could be happening in Life, and she needed to get back in case Sam and Touchstone needed help. With a glance back at the First Gate – which the necromancer had now passed – she turned and walked back to the border between Life and Death.

 


	3. Regrouping

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aside from writing quality and pacing, which I already mentioned, I also make no promises about consistent chapter lengths.

While Sam and Touchstone had hoped that there would be nothing Dead within their Diamond, they quickly found their hope to be misplaced. Feeling another Hand rise close to him, Sam turned and saw a body fighting its way out of the ground near Touchstone. “Father!” he yelled. Touchstone turned and stumbled a few steps backwards as a clump of dirt hit him in the chest. Hefting his sword – although Lirael would be better, a Charter-spelled blade was certainly the next best thing – Sam charged. His blade cut off one of the arms, and as the Hand wheeled around to fight him, Touchstone’s sword ran it through. It fell, and Sam and Touchstone stepped back from it, breathing heavily.

Sam wheeled around to face the outside of the Diamond. Somehow the Hands from across the river had made their way onto the island, and were trying to get into the Diamond.

“It’s holding,” Touchstone whispered.

“Let’s put more into it,” said Sam. It was holding, but he wasn’t sure it would continue to do so, and he had a feeling his father felt the same way. Going to opposite points, they each used their sword to put more power into the Diamond. “There better not be anything else in here,” Sam said as he finished.

“If there is, we’ll fight it,” replied Touchstone.

There was a cracking sound, and they both jumped, before relaxing just a little bit. Lirael was coming back into Life.

****

Lirael stepped back into Life, and lifted her hand to wipe the ice off her face – which, as always, only partially worked as her hand was iced as well. She looked at Touchstone and Sam. “I sent the necromancer further into Death,” she said. “But I wasn’t able to find out why we were attacked.”

“Well I’m glad we don’t need to worry about them attacking us again tonight, at least,” said Sam. “But, um...” He gestured to outside of the Diamond, where the Hands, having been freed from their tie to the necromancer, had started attacking the horses.

Lirael’s eyes widened as she realized what was going on. “Oh dear,” she said. Drawing Saraneth and Kibeth, she bound the Hands and sent them on their way to past the Ninth Gate. The Hands crumpled, and the horses that hadn’t run away calmed slightly. Once Lirael was sure they were all well into Death, she turned back to Touchstone and Sam.

“The necromancer shouldn’t attack us tonight,” she said, “but that doesn’t mean we’re not in danger. I don’t know what’s going on, and there could be other attacks waiting for us. Free Magic creatures, perhaps. If they were controlled by the necromancer, they won’t be any longer, but they may still decide to harm us.”

Touchstone put his hand on the hilt of his sword, which he had sheathed when Lirael came back into Life. “Can you find out if their are any?” he asked.

Lirael closed her eyes, and allowed her senses to roam the area. There was nothing else Dead, that was for certain. She could not sense any source of Free Magic, but that was not a guarantee.

She opened her eyes and looked at Touchstone. “Nothing Dead,” she said. “And I can’t sense any Free Magic.”

“But it could still be there,” said Sam.

Lirael nodded. “There could definitely be Free Magic creatures that I’m not sensing.”

“Is it safe to break the Diamond?” asked Touchstone. “I’d like to calm the horses, and get our packs.”

Lirael nodded again. “If there is anything, we can defend against them,” she said. “Just stay alert. And I’m not sure, but I think there might be one survivor among the guards.”

Sam nodded. “I thought so too! I think I only felt nine die, but there was so much going on I wasn’t sure.”

Touchstone rubbed out one of the Diamond’s points with his foot, breaking the protection. “Let’s try not to leave the island,” he said.

Lirael walked over to the point of the island that was closest to where she thought most of the guards had gone. She tried not to wince as she stepped over the remains of the Hands that only an hour before had been her guards and companions. She reached the edge of the island and stared out into the forest, which was very dark by this point. “Hello?” she called. “Is anyone alive?”

“Hello!” Someone – Patar – called back.

“Are you hurt? Can you get back to the island?” Lirael called back. “It’s over.”

“I’m coming!” A minute later, Patar limped into her sight – “just a twisted ankle,” he assured her – and over to the bridge. Lirael ran over and extended the bridge so that he could cross. Although she strongly suspected that it really was Patar, as he crossed the water without trouble, she still reached to check his Charter Mark as he stepped onto the island. He reached to touch hers as well, and they experienced a brief connection to the Charter before they pulled their hands back. Satisfied that a Free Magic being was not occupying Patar’s body, she stepped aside to let him onto the island proper. Together, they dismantled the bridge, and then walked back to where Sam and Touchstone were calming the remaining horses – there were only eight, Lirael saw.

Touchstone nodded at Patar as they approached. “I’m glad to see you’re alive,” he said.

“I’m glad to be alive,” Patar replied.

“We should make a new Diamond,” said Sam. “Now that no one else needs to get onto the island.”

The other three nodded, and they each went to a different point in order to cast the Diamond jointly. They made this one bigger than the last had been, to include the horses, fire pit, and enough room to set up camp. Then they moved the horses in, closer to the center, and picketed them there so that they could not ruin the Diamond during the night. They worked mostly in silence, not wanting to think about what had just happened.

Sam remembered what he had said earlier – that he hoped there were no more bodies on the island – and caught his breath. Trying to sense dead bodies, he failed, but wasn’t sure if he was correct. “Lirael?” he called.

Lirael looked up from where she was setting up one of the tents. “What is it?” she asked.

Sam ran up to her. “While you were in Death, one of the Hands was raised within the Diamond,” he said. Lirael blanched. “We killed it,” Sam reassured her. “But there might be more bodies on the island. I couldn’t sense any, but...”

Lirael let her death sense explore the ground beneath her feet, and came up with nothing. She shook her head. “I’m not sensing any either,” she said. “But even if there are, we’re probably still safer on this island than somewhere else in the forest. There shouldn’t be any more necromancy tonight.”

Although Lirael didn’t believe there would be any more trouble tonight, and although strengthening the Diamond would not protect from anything inside of it, she went around and did so anyway. Then she joined the small huddle that Sam, Touchstone, and Patar were making.

“We should get some rest,” Touchstone said. “Although maybe we should keep watch, even with the Diamond.”

Lirael nodded. “We can take turns at that,” he said.

“And then let’s get out of here early tomorrow,” added Sam.

Touchstone nodded. “I’d definitely like to leave early as well,” he said. “And ride as fast as we can.”

“I’ll take first watch, if no one minds,” said Patar. Sam, Lirael, and Touchstone nodded their agreement.

“Anyone want some food?” asked Sam. “We never did eat dinner, and there’s bread, cheese, and dried meat in the packs.”

Surprised, the others realized that they were hungry, and moved to the packs to get the food. After they ate – quickly and silently – Patar took up a guard post near the edge of the Diamond and the rest made their way into tents and bedrolls.

In her tent, Lirael heard the other three discussing watches, and Touchstone’s insistence that she not take a watch, as she had gone into Death. While she would have normally argued, and said she was perfectly fine and would do her share of the work, she was too exhausted to care.

As she drifted off, she had a terrible thought, one that weighed down on her grieving heart. The guards had been killed by something, and it wasn’t the necromancer, because the deaths had all been too close together to be the work of one being. The necromancer must have had Dead beings to kill the guards – and she, the Abhorsen-in-Waiting – had not sensed them. It had been a fatal mistake.


	4. A Way Home

Lirael was quiet the next morning, and avoided eye contact with the others, as they rolled up tents and bedrolls, ate breakfast, and gave the horses a light grooming. Finally, Touchstone took her by the shoulder as she was saddling one of the guard’s horses – her horse had run off last night, and had not come back – and turned her to look at him.

“What’s wrong?” he asked. Lirael looked down. Touchstone put a finger under her chin, and gently moved her head upward until she was looking into his eyes. Lirael bit her lip. “What is it?” said Touchstone. She closed her eyes, and to her shame, felt tears leak out and onto her cheeks.

“I could have prevented it,” she whispered. “There must have been Dead that killed our guards, but I didn’t sense them. If I had, I could have prevented all of this.”

Sam stepped out from behind another horse, and Lirael grimaced. She would have preferred that he had not heard what she had just said, but of course he had.

“I didn’t sense anything either,” he said, looking at her seriously. “And I can sense Dead too, so I should have been able to. It’s not your fault.”

Lirael broke free of Touchstone’s hold. “It is my fault!” she shouted at Sam. “It’s not your job to sense them – I’m the Abhorsen-in-Waiting! I should have been trying to sense them, not just trusting I’d notice if something was wrong!”

Sam looked like he was ready to shout back, but Patar stepped out from around a different horse, and cleared his throat. Touchstone, Sam, and Lirael turned to look at him.

“Actually, um, I don’t think there was anything Dead,” he said. “I believe it was Charter Magic that killed them.”

“Charter Magic?!” said the other three together.

“But if it was Charter Magic, it couldn’t have been the necromancer!” exclaimed Lirael. “They had to have had Charter Mages working with them!”

Touchstone’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t like this,” he said. “Let’s leave right now – finish getting the horses ready. We’ll find a town and go from there.”

The four of them quickly finished readying the horses and packing their belongings onto them. As they were mounting and preparing to ride off, Sam spoke up. “Can we go to a town?” he asked. “Or will we just bring danger to them, if someone is targeting us?”

Lirael and Sam looked at each other. “Just start riding,” said Touchstone grimly. “We’ll figure it out as we go.”

****

In a tradeoff between speed and safety, they eventually settled on a relatively fast trot. About an hour after leaving the island, they reached the outskirts of the forest, and found most of the rest of their horses grazing in a small clearing. Patar and Sam quickly added them to the chain of their other spare horses, and they rode on.

Sam, who was riding in front, was the first to round the bend in the path at the edge of the forest, and he exclaimed “oh!” when he did.

“What is it?” called Lirael. Then she rounded the bend, and saw an extremely welcome sight. Two of the Clayr were there, with two paperwings. Gullaine and Arielle, Lirael was pretty sure. “Cousin!” they greeted her.

Touchstone was the last to come around the bend, and his face showed great relief when he did. “This is a very welcome surprise,” he said. “Greetings, cousins.”

“Greetings,” they replied in turn. Lirael dismounted, and gave each a brief hug. “I am so glad you Saw we needed help,” she said.

“We are sorry we could not bring the paperwings into the forest, or we would have eased your worries sooner,” replied Gullaine.

Touchstone, Sam, and Patar dismounted as well.

“We are also sorry we could not bring more paperwings,” said Arielle. “All the rest are in use elsewhere.”

“That is fine,” said Touchstone. “But how shall we do this? Lirael is the only one in our party who can fly one, and I would not like to leave you stranded here.”

“And we don’t know who the target of the attack was,” said Sam, “so we don’t know who needs to get back to Belisaere the most.”

“Well they aren’t after me,” said Patar. “So maybe I should go on to a town with the horses. I can make sure they are taken care of, and make my own way back to Belisaere, since I won’t draw danger to the town.”

Gullaine was nodding. “That is a good idea,” she said. “I will go with you, since there are only four seats in the paperwings, and Arielle and Lirael can fly to Belisaere.”

Everyone was nodding by the end of her sentence. Sam went to get his, Touchstone’s, and Lirael’s packs from the horses, and Patar and Gullaine began to tie them all into one string.

Touchstone looked at Lirael and Arielle. “How should we divide up passengers?” he asked.

“Arielle is probably a better flyer than me,” said Lirael.

Touchstone nodded. “There is a chance we could be attacked while in the air, so the passenger should be prepared with defensive magic if they need to be. I am stronger at defense than Sam, so perhaps he should go with Arielle? And I will fly with Lirael. Then each team should have a good chance of escaping an attack.”

Lirael and Arielle nodded their agreement, although Lirael gulped and prayed that her flying would not be tested in that manner. Sam returned, and Touchstone instructed him to fly with Arielle. Lirael went to the paperwing that Arielle was not readying, and laid her hand on it. She could feel its eagerness to be up in the air again. Taking off her sword and bandolier, she placed them in the craft along with her bag, then climbed into the front seat. Touchstone placed his belongings in the craft as well, and took the seat behind her. Arielle and Sam were climbing into their craft as well. Then Arielle whistled up a wind, and Lirael added her whistle, and the paperwings began to slide forward and climb into the air. They were off, flying to Belisaere.


	5. Belisaere

Arielle rejected their invitation to stay once they landed on the palace roof in Belisaere, saying that she had to get back to the Glacier. She accepted some pieces of dried meat and fruit from the guards on the wall, and then was off again, as Lirael guided the paperwing she had flown to a spot with the others.

Touchstone and Sam were waiting for her when she finished. “We should go tell Sabriel right away,” said Touchstone. “Is that fine with you?”

Lirael nodded. “She needs to hear this,” she said. “Let’s go.”

The three of them grabbed their bags and walked quickly down the stairs and into the palace proper. Touchstone led them in the direction of the family quarters. They attracted more than a few glances along the way, and Lirael realized that not only had none of them bathed in a week, but they probably all looked like they were ready to step back into battle.

“Where is the Queen?” Touchstone asked a maid who was exiting the hallway that led to the Royal quarters.

“In the sitting room, I believe,” she said, dropping a curtsey.

“Thank you,” said Sam, as the three of them swept past.

Sabriel was indeed in the sitting room, curled up in a chair reading a book. She looked up when they came in. “I wasn’t expecting you for a week!” she said with surprise. She went to Touchstone and kissed him, then looked their small group over. “But what happened? None of you look happy.”

Touchstone sank into a chair. “We were attacked by a necromancer last night,” he told his wife. “You should be proud. Lirael saved us.”

Lirael sat in a different chair and slumped forward. “I messed it up.”

“Lirael,” said Sam and Touchstone together.

“You couldn’t have sensed anything before it happened,” said Sam.

“It’s not your fault,” said Touchstone.

Lirael glared at them. “The necromancer is going to come back. I didn’t send them past the Ninth Gate, and I couldn’t even find out why they were attacking us.”

Sam sighed in exasperation and fell into a chair of his own. “Lirael, we’d all be dead if it wasn’t for you!”

Sabriel looked between the three of them. “It sounds like they’re right,” she told Lirael. “Even if you weren’t able to get information you wanted, or send the necromancer as far as you wanted, you still did well.”

Lirael swallowed a lump in her throat and looked down.

Sabriel returned to her original seat. “But why don’t you start from the beginning? This sounds complicated.”

But she did not stay seated long, for as soon as Touchstone mentioned that Patar believed the guard’s deaths to have been a product of Charter Magic, she jumped to her feet. “Charter Magic?!” Touchstone, Sam, and Lirael all nodded. “This... this is getting complicated.” She started pacing the room. “This could be a problem. If we have a necromancer working with Charter Mages... this could have been more than a random attack. That takes planning. Or it could have been a standard attack on the Bloodlines, but from a necromancer with some brains. That’s probably more likely, since it still wasn’t thought out all that well... they must have known their would be an Abhorsen there, and so they used Charter Mages for the original deaths, but didn’t stop to think that as soon as the deaths were felt they would lose any element of surprise. But let’s not rule out something bigger, more organized.”

She stopped suddenly and turned to Lirael. “What were they like?”

“A little taller than me,” said Lirael. “Their eyes were close together, and they had a long nose and thin lips. They were wearing a traveller’s cloak. And they were relatively powerful – I didn’t think so at first, but then they seemed to get stronger.”

Sabriel frowned. “Hmm. Not one I’ve met, then, I think.” She sank back into her chair and rubbed her temples. “This might be complicated to unravel.”

Touchstone stood. “Well I think I’m going to go have a bath,” he said. “I feel rather dirty right now.”

“That sounds like a wonderful idea,” said Sam, and stood as well. Touchstone kissed Sabriel again before he left, and Sabriel stood and drew Sam into an embrace. Then they left, and Sabriel and Lirael were alone. Sabriel sat down in a chair next to Lirael’s and placed her hands over her sister’s.

“Don’t feel bad,” she said. “You did what you could. That’s all anyone can ask.”

Lirael shook her head. “They didn’t feel powerful at first,” she said. “And they didn’t seem to recognize who I was. But then, when I tried to use Dyrim, they got so much stronger and fought. And then it was all I could do to send them further into Death, and probably not even very far.”

Sabriel squeezed her hands and kissed her forehead. “You did well just to get rid of them, even if they will come back. Things would have been so much worse if you hadn’t.”

Lirael nodded. “I know.”

Sabriel squeezed her hands again and let go. “You’re learning very quickly, and doing very well. Try not to beat yourself up over not always doing as much as you want. None of us can.”

Lirael nodded and smiled shakily at her sister. Sabriel smiled back. “Now why don’t you go get a bath yourself?” she suggested.

Lirael felt her shoulders relax. “That does sound nice,” she admitted.

“Then go,” Sabriel said. “And don’t dwell on what already happened.”

****

When Lirael walked into the family’s private dining room that evening, she found the rest of the family – as well as Nick, who was basically part of the family by now – already there. It seemed that Sam had just finished telling Ellimere and Nick what had happened.

Ellimere jumped up as she entered the room, and hugged her. “I am so glad you are all right,” she said. “And that you’re home. All of this sounded so odd, I’m glad you are okay, and Sam said you saved everyone – well, everyone who was still alive at least...” she trailed off. Lirael smiled at her niece. “I’m glad to be home too,” she said.

Two servants came in with the meal, and placed the food on the table, then left. Everyone sat down and started to dish out the food.

“This is absolutely bizarre,” said Nick. “I don’t understand a bit of what’s going on.”

“None of us do,” said Sam.

“Why would they try to attack your group? They couldn’t have thought it would actually work.”

“It seems they did think it would work,” said Lirael. And they may have had good reason to think that, one part of her mind told her, while another part agreed with Nick’s sentiment.

“What I want to know,” said Sabriel, “is who they were targeting. Surely not all three of you.”

“Wouldn’t it make most sense to target the King?” asked Nick.

“Maybe,” said Touchstone, frowning. “But the Abhorsen line is so depleted, they could have been after Lirael.” Nick glanced at Lirael, concerned.

“Or perhaps they feel the Wallmaker is a threat,” said Sabriel.

“So they could have been after any of you,” said Ellimere. “That isn’t very useful.”

“No, it isn’t.” Sabriel sighed. “Let’s just be glad for now that all of us are safe, and home.”

“I’m definitely glad everyone is back,” said Nick, and smiled at Lirael. Lirael smiled back, but couldn’t shake the feeling that Nick was maybe a little too interested in her. This was not the first time he had seemed to take special interest in her wellbeing. He was nice enough, certainly, but Lirael was not at all interested in what she thought he wanted.

“I’m glad we’re home, too,” said Touchstone. “And let’s enjoy it for tonight, shall we? We can figure out what’s going on after we’ve relaxed a bit.”

Everyone agreed, and the rest of the meal was spent in idle chatter. Whatever else was happening, Lirael thought, she was glad to be back in Belisaere.


	6. Preparations

The next morning, a bit after breakfast, Lirael went to Sabriel’s study to get a book about Free Magic creatures. The people in a village near The Wall had told stories about one she didn’t recognize, and she wanted to look it up.

“Lirael,” Sabriel greeted her as she came in, and went back to the stack of reports on her desk. Lirael found the book she was looking for, and turned to go. “Wait,” Sabriel said. Lirael turned back to her sister. Sabriel’s forehead was creased with worry, and her mouth turned down in a slight frown. “I’ve been thinking about the necromancer. I ought to go see what I can find out. Maybe the townspeople will know something, or maybe there will be clues near the island.”

Lirael’s eyes widened a little. Could she go too? She liked working with Sabriel, and although she knew that what had happened had not been her fault, working to stop the necromancer would make her feel better.

Sabriel saw her interest and smiled. “Yes, you can come,” she said. “I’d like you to. Things tend to be easier when there are two of us.”

Lirael smiled. “Thank you,” she said.

Sabriel sighed. “I guess we should go soon,” she said. “Before everything useful disappears.”

Lirael nodded. “Today, then?”

“Yes,” said Sabriel. “It will have to be today.” She bit her lip. “Maybe we should each take our own paperwing, just in case,” she added.

“In case of what?”

Sabriel shrugged. “Anything. If we need to split up, because something else comes up, or one of us needs to come back here or go to the House, or we end up with a... companion.”

“Or a prisoner,” said Lirael.

“Or that,” Sabriel agreed.

“Two paperwings, then,” said Lirael. “Should we go to the Glacier? The Clayr could have Seen something that will help us.”

Sabriel nodded. “That’s a good idea. We might as well.” She levered herself to her feet. “Let’s get ready, then. The sooner we leave, the sooner we can figure out what’s going on.” She left the room.

Lirael put the book back on the shelf. She would still look up this Free Magic creature, but it could wait until the necromancer was taken care of.

****

A few hours later, the entire family stood on the roof of the palace.

“Are you sure you have everything?” asked Ellimere. “You didn’t forget anything you might need? You have room for more, since you’re taking two paperwings. And you’re sure you’re prepared, if another attack comes? Because there could be one, they already tried once – “

“Ellimere,” said Touchstone. “Your mother and aunt will be fine. This is their job. And stop looking like that, Sam.” Sam had been standing with his arms crossed, face creased in worry. “There’s nothing to worry about. They’ll do their job and come back.” He stepped over to Sabriel, and embraced her, burying his face in her shoulder. “Be careful,” he said. “I’ll never forgive you if you get yourself killed.” He looked at Lirael, not letting go of Sabriel. “That goes for you too,” he told her.

Lirael nodded, and willed herself not to smile. It seemed that despite Touchstone’s reassurances to his children, he would still worry himself.

“Isn’t this very dangerous?” asked Nick. “I mean, you’re going to try to track down a necromancer. A necromancer! And they probably have Free Magic beings working for them, too!” He looked at Lirael. “You should be very careful.”

Sam rolled his eyes. “They’ll be fine,” he told Nick. “They do this all the time.”

Sabriel smiled. “Well maybe not all the time,” she said. “But often enough. This, or something like it. We may be in danger, but it’s nothing we can’t handle.”

Nick nodded, but did not look convinced.

“Really, Nick,” said Ellimere. “They’ll be fine.”

“It’s true,” said Touchstone. “They’ve both handled worse.”

Lirael couldn’t fight the smile this time. She knew that everyone was worried – including Sabriel and herself – but they all seemed determined to convince everyone else that there was nothing to worry about. It was really quite amusing.

Sabriel looked at her. “Shall we go?” she asked.

Lirael nodded. “We should.”

There was another round of hugs and kisses, goodbyes and be-careful’s, and then Lirael and Sabriel climbed into their paperwings. Lirael started whistling up a wind, and Sabriel joined her, and then they were off, two blue and silver crafts rising in the sky.


	7. Plans

By the time they landed at the top of Starmount, Lirael was shivering even though the sun was shining brightly. As she and Sabriel climbed out of their paperwings, the door into the mountain opened and five of the Clayr walked out. Recognizing Sanar and Ryelle in the group, Lirael grinned. One of the twins came forward to hug Sabriel, while the other hugged Lirael.

Once greetings were through – all five of the Clayr wanted to say hello to Lirael – Ryelle (or maybe it was Sanar) turned to Lirael. “Arielle tells us that you have become a wonderful pilot. She says you had no trouble keeping up with her.” Amusement sparkled in her eyes, and Lirael had to smile. Arielle could be somewhat boastful sometimes.

“I’m just glad that her and Gullaine were able to come for us,” she replied.

Ryelle nodded. “As are we, and we are sorry we could not spare more paperwings or pilots. But you are safe, and one of our cousins is getting Gullaine now, so all is well.” She turned to Sabriel. “But this is not a social visit. How many we help you?”

“We don’t have specifics, unfortunately,” said Sabriel. “But a necromancer attacked Sam, Lirael, and Touchstone a few days ago, as you know. They worked with Charter Mages, and possibly other necromancers. If you have Seen even the smallest thing about a necromancer or of more attacks, the information could help us.”

The Clayr shook their heads. “We have not Seen anything pertaining to either of those things,” said Sanar. “But we will try to See what we can, and will send a message hawk to you if we See anything useful.”

Sabriel smiled. “Thank you,” she said. She turned to Lirael. “I suppose we must be going,” she said with regret.

Lirael nodded. “Before any clues are gone,” she said.

They hugged each of the Clayr again, thanked them for their help, and climbed back into their paperwings.

****

It was already getting dark when they made it to the edge of the forest where the attack had taken place. Sabriel stepped out of her paperwing and stretched. “Let’s make camp, and explore in the morning,” she said. “I’d rather do that when there’s more light.”

“That sounds good,” said Lirael. She unloaded her things from the paperwing, and placed a hand between its eyes, thanking it and asking it to go to sleep. Sabriel did the same, and dropped her bags under a large tree. They had made camp together enough times by now that they were starting to have a routine. Sabriel made a Diamond of protection, while Lirael conjured Charter Marks for light and unpacked the tents. Then they each set up their own, and Lirael found the food and set it out. She didn’t make a fire – the night was warm enough, and they had plenty of food that did not need to be cooked.

As they sat down to eat, a though occurred to Lirael. She put down her bread. “Sabriel... what if we can’t find anything at the island?”

Sabriel looked at her. “You’ll recognize the necromancer again, won’t you?” Lirael nodded. “Then we’ll go into Death and find them. With both of us there, we should be able to get the information we need.”

“I meant if we can’t even find them,” said Lirael. “If they’re so powerful that they can hide from us, or if they already got out of Death.”

Sabriel frowned. “Let’s hope that doesn’t happen.”

Lirael sighed. “I’m sorry I couldn’t find out anything before. You could have done it.”

Sabriel shook her head. “Maybe I could have. It sounds like they’re pretty powerful, so maybe not, especially at the end of a long day.” She rubbed her forehead. “It bothers me that you thought they were less powerful, and then they turned out to be stronger than you thought. It’s interesting that they were able to trick you like that.”

Lirael looked down. “I could have just been being foolish.”

Sabriel sighed. “It’s possible. But I’m not sure that’s it. Let’s be careful.”


	8. A Frustrating Start

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember when I said I made no promises about pacing? We're getting to the part I was talking about, although it could happen again later. (Although really, it could end up being perfectly fine pacing. I'm not think about it right now, just writing.)

Sabriel woke early the next morning, and set up breakfast, so that when Lirael emerged from her tent fruit and cheese was already spread on a cloth.

“Good morning,” said Sabriel. “Do you know where the closest town is?”

“Um, no,” said Lirael. “Good morning.” She sat down, and helped herself to an apple.

Sabriel sighed. “I’m sorry. I don’t want to leave the paperwings here, even if we put protection spells around them. I don’t know why we didn’t just go to a town last night – I guess I was still hoping we could have started yesterday.”

“I’m not sure where it is,” said Lirael. “We never actually went there. But I don’t think it’s far.”

“Then let’s fly there after we eat. We can store the paperwings somewhere in town, and maybe get horses as well.”

****

They did go to town, and after being sent from one person to another, eventually ended up with the hostler at the inn, who agreed to store the paperwings in a large stall in the stables.

“You’d think the guards would be more helpful,” Sabriel grumbled as they left the stall. “Considering we’re trying to help the Kingdom and all that.”

“They didn’t seem to have much room,” said Lirael. “I don’t think they wanted us, but they weren’t lying about that.”

“Hmmph.”

It was close to noon at this point, so they ate lunch at the inn, then bargained for horses with the hostler, paying him well for both the storage of the paperwings and the use of the horses while they were in town. By the time they rode back to the forest, and then to the island, it was already mid-afternoon.

Sabriel peered at the bridge and raised her eyebrows. “Smart creation,” she remarked.

Lirael shivered. There had been a lot of death in this area, and it was pressing down on her. She sighed. “There were bodies on the island,” she said. “I should have at least sensed that there were bodies where we were camping.”

Sabriel looked at her and raised her eyebrows. “You were tired and not specifically searching for them,” she said. “Remember what I said about not beating yourself up over this?”

Lirael looked into her sister’s eyes and sighed. “I know,” she said.

“Then act like it,” said Sabriel, not unkindly. “Stop blaming yourself.” Sabriel turned in a circle. “Let’s search the woods, and see what we can find,” she said. “The island too. If we can find something before finding the necromancer, it might make our job easier.”

They split up and searched the forest, looking on the ground and up higher, even climbing trees, and using Charter spells to help. More than an hour later, after searching a wide radius around the island, as well as the island itself, they were forced to give up.

“Nothing,” said Lirael with disgust. “Not even some footprints.”

Sabriel sighed. “I was really hoping to find something with this. I suppose we should go into Death now, and find the necromancer...”

Lirael glanced at the sky. “There’s only an hour or so left of light,” she said. “And we don’t know how long this is going to take.”

Sabriel grimaced. “I know. We could do it, but it would be better to go back to town.”

“We could try there?” Lirael suggested.

Sabriel shook her head. “It’s too dangerous. If something followed us back into Life, it would attack the townspeople. We can’t bring danger to them like that, unless it’s absolutely necessary.”

Lirael sighed and nodded. “Tomorrow, then.”

They rode back to the town in silence, disappointed that they had not found any answers and frustrated that their search had been delayed so much. Sabriel payed for adjoining rooms for them in the inn, and they took early bedtimes after eating dinner. Neither felt like sitting downstairs, where townspeople and travelers stared at them but did not approach.

 


End file.
